108 Note on Lagomys Curzonice, Hodgson. [No. 2, 



Note on Lagomys Curzonies, Hodgson. — By Dr. F. Stoliczka. 

 [Received 7th December, 1864. — Read 7th December, 1864.] 



Iu the catalogue of the Mammalia of the Asiatic Museum, Mr. Blyth 

 mentions Lagomys Ourzonice, Hoclgs. as a desideratum.* Mr. Adams 

 quotes a " Lagomys, sp. ?" as occurring plentifully in Ladak, (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. Loud. 1858, p. 520) and Major Cunningham also speaks 

 of a " smaller species of hare, or Lagomys" as extremely common all 

 over Tibet. (Cunningham's Ladak, p. 204.) 



On my visit this year to the eastern provinces of Ladak I was 

 fortunate enough to procure several specimens of what I believe to be 

 Lagomys Curzonice, Hoclgs. (Vide Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1857, 

 Vol. XXVI, p. 207 and Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1858, I. p. 80.) but 

 Mr. Hodgson's description of this animal is very brief, so that it is 

 hardly possible to recognise the species among the numerous members 

 of this genus. The following description is founded on four specimens, 

 of three of which the exact measurements are given below. 



General hue of the upper body pale buff fulvous, with very slight 

 rufous tint and tipped with dark brown ; below whitish, with translu- 

 cent dusky blue. The larger hairs of the fur measure about fth of an 

 inch ; the lower part, for more than half their length, of a dark, slaty 

 blue colour, with silky lustre ; the next portion pale fulvous and 

 the tip dark brown or black. The fur is full and very soft, as 

 Hodgson remarks, and can be readily distinguished from that of 

 L. rufescens, Gray. Chiefly in old specimens, there are, on the sides 

 of the upper portion of the body, a few long hairs intermingled, which 

 measure up to one and a quarter inches ; these are almost or entirely 

 of a black colour. 



On the lower part of the body the hairs are, for two-thirds of their 

 length, dark slaty blue, and the rest pale. 



The head measures nearly always one-fifth of the total length of the 

 animal. The hairs on it are much shorter, and tinged with a dark 

 rufous tint above ; on the sides of the snout they are pale grey, in 

 front of the eyes and below, pale white, while on the sides of the head 

 itself there is a slight rufous tint marked, which is a little stronger all 

 round the neck, and extends somewhat farther back on the upper body. 

 The hairs round the neck are rather longer, but only half their length 

 * 1863, p. 133, foot note. 



